1. Field of the Invention
Related is a system for collating a plurality of incoming document sheet or page streams into a unified packet. More specifically, disclosed are a collating apparatus and control system for merging and stacking document sheet or page streams that converge in a central tray from a plurality of input directions and levels. The collated document packet is then ejected to further processing equipment.
2. Description of the Background Art
For a competitive and profitable billing operation to survive and grow, when periodic statements are printed for customers of services or goods, efficiency is of the essence. Often a statement comprises a plurality of pages that need to be printed and assembled into a suitable mailing piece. The assembly process or collation is usually time consuming and, if different information is to be printed on various pages, difficult to coordinate.
Various collating mechanisms exist, however, no multi-directional/multi-level collating apparatus is known. Generally, a collating apparatus functions to receive a plurality of incoming sheets from one source and positions those incoming sheets into one or more piles, each pile with multiple pages. The subject invention dramatically varies the prior schemes by accepting sheets of pages from a plurality of different directional and elevational incoming sources and pooling the incoming sheets or pages into a single pile or packet for subsequent processing.